“Florida Manatee Abused with Political Graffiti”

Around January 10, 2021, a manatee was spotted in North Florida’s Homosassa River with the name “Trump” written largely on its back. According to the Washington Post, the manatee was discovered Sunday by a woman named Hailey Warrington who was operating a manatee boat tour (Newsweek).  She took photos and videos as evidence and sent them to the police. There was early speculation as to whether the name was carved into the manatee’s skin or whether it was drawn in algae, although later investigations revealed that the name was drawn in algae. 

The abuse of such an innocent animal is crazy and outright disgusting. Animals should not be brought into the world’s political problems, especially animals who are endangered at the moment and even have laws to protect them from people. These laws were created by the United States Fish and Wildlife Services. According to Smithsonian Magazine, “Any individuals found responsible [for this crime] could face fines of $50,000 as well as the potential of a year in federal prison.” This is the real punishment that the person responsible will be facing. Manatees are already endangered as it is and don’t need or deserve to be harassed. According to the same article, “[b]y the end of 2019, a record-breaking 130 manatees had been killed by boaters, tropical storms and hurricanes, manatees are still dying at steep rates. In recent years, Florida’s red tides—massive toxic and cool weather wiped out more than 800 manatees”. These are just some of the reasons why now these poor animals are endangered or becoming extinct. There are around 13,000 left, about 6,500 are in the Florida waters. This leaves me speechless and downright disappointed in some people. These animals are harmless.  

People quickly took to social media to voice their outrage over these precious “sea cows” who are already easily endangered by humans. According to CNN, actor Dave Bautista has something to say about the matter. He wrote on Twitter: “If there is not already a reward for the arrest and conviction of the low life scummy MAGAT’s that did this, I’ll throw in $20,000. And I promise there will be bounces to that reward.” Even more celebrities and public figures have offered their help to catch this criminal. To further entice potential witnesses to come forward, “[t]he wildlife center has already announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible” (CNN). 

In total, if someone has all the information about who committed this crime, they could get $25,000, along with seeing justice served. This is all the information that we know at the moment about this problem. Once the truth comes out and more information is leaked, then we will know who was responsible and what price they will pay or their actions. Sadly, this may take a long time because it’s hard to trace evidence on a moving creature.